Things unexpectedly crop up all the time and cause us to re-adjust our plans.

Have you ever sat down at the beginning of the day with a “to-do” list and at the end of the day looked at your list and it still has all the same items on it as at the beginning of the day? Maybe even with a few more added? Believe me you are not alone. Sometimes we can find that days go by and we have not been able to tick off anything from our lists. People give us more & more things to do, deadlines change, requirements alter and goalposts move. Sometimes even the game changes altogether! It can be bewildering and overwhelming.

Responding to these changes in an appropriate manner is important. Clearly urgent items need attention. However important items need attention too. The difference appears subtle but the impact can be huge. If we only ever deal with the urgent items, the important ones get pushed down the list and become a lower priority. That may be ok for a while, but they were important for a reason.

Don’t fall in to the trap of always letting other peoples urgent items set the agenda for your day. Sometimes we do need to deal with those things but just remember you have your own important items to deal with to. If you want to get that promotion, lose that weight, run that marathon, generate that revenue or whatever your goal is, you will need to keep your priorities in the forefront of your mind and don’t let others de-rail your road to success.